‘Hacks’ Is Back: Why Jean Smart’s Health Crisis and a 10-Month Delay Couldn’t Slow Down TV’s Edgiest Comedy
variety.comHacks,” it appeared that Deborah Vance and her protégé Ava Daniels had reached the end of the road. Deborah (Jean Smart), a jaded Las Vegas comic, and Ava (Hannah Einbinder), the young and eager joke writer she’d hired, had together crafted a TV special that showcased Deborah’s wit and her willingness to change with the times.
It was a perfect merging of what Deborah brought to the table and what she’d learned, at times unwillingly, from her young partner — and, having decided they’d done all they could together, Deborah fired Ava.
What a surprising place to arrive, after the rollicking two-year journey these characters had undergone! But there was a problem with a finale this satisfying. “People are like, ‘It felt like it could have been the end,’” recalls co-creator Jen Statsky. “And you’re like, ‘No!
No!’” “Hacks” has had no shortage of fan love and industry attention — among 32 total Emmy nominations, it’s been a winner for its writing and directing, as well as garnering two trophies for Smart, a beloved character actress who in Deborah has finally been given the opportunity to play the lead.
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